


Snake Charming; Charming Snake

by BadHidingSpot



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Autumn, Autumn Fluff, Fluff, NB Loki, Non-binary Loki, Other, Spooktober, Witch Thor, familiar Loki, prompt: poisonus, snake - Freeform, snake loki, spooktober bingo, unresearched snake facts, warlock Thor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 22:24:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20478443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadHidingSpot/pseuds/BadHidingSpot
Summary: Softe autumn Throki content. Loki is Thor's snake familiar and they're in love.





	Snake Charming; Charming Snake

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to write some softe autumn fluff and I’ve never written Throki before so I thought I’d give it a shot. This is my first story with an NB character so I hope I did a good job. I’m always looking to improve so feedback is appreciated. Also this is part of my personal campaign to have more NB Loki content. Written for Spooktober bingo prompt: "poisonous". Also this was heavily inspired by "Watch With Glimmering Eyes" by Kellyscams which I highly recommend if you like Stucky and witch/familiar content.

Loki sticks their forked tongue into the air and tastes the disappointing air of Fall. It’s Autumn, officially now, and Loki feels much colder than they want to be. Snake form is their preference, much more comfortable, easier to move and though they will never tell Thor this directly, they like how easy it is to wrap around and engulf him entirely. They may be able to hold snake form for about half of the days in Fall but once winter hits they will have to be in human form more often than not. Easier to keep warm and Loki _knows_ this but they will put it off as long as possible.

Even today though, the first morning of Autumn, they feel too cold in their nest in the bedroom. The heat lamp is not enough so Loki slides themself from the thick tree branch they’ve wrapped around in their sleep and slithers across the neolium. Loki hisses--this is cold too and if they weren’t so desperate for warmth they might have thought about that. It’s not a long crawl to Thor’s bed, he likes Loki to sleep close possibly for the very reason that they can climb in whenever they like.

Loki slides into the bed at the foot and winds themself around Thor’s right ankle and spirals up his thick thigh unnoticed even when they reach the hip bone. Loki likes to rest their head there in the dip just under the abdomen--it’s a perfect fit and when they stick their tongue out the air tastes only like Thor. Humans scents are always strongest at the groin and Thor tastes like pop rocks, rain, and the burnt wood of a cedar tree struck by lightning. It is comfortable enough to lull Loki back into a warm doze--Thor’s body heat chasing the fall chill away within minutes. Loki thinks they should sleep like this always but sometimes Thor rolls over in his sleep and more than once has almost crushed Loki. Also the branch is comfortable when Thor isn’t home or when Loki is mad at Thor and doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of sleeping together.

Loki can’t remember the reason they slept on the branch last night but it doesn’t matter, not now with the air getting so cold, they will be much more forgiving of Thor’s slights from now until Spring comes. Two strong fingers stroke the top of Loki’s head bringing them out of their doze. Loki blinks twice, takes one more taste of the air here, and then slithers up Thor’s stomach until they rest wrapped around his neck, face on Thor’s right pec.

“Forgiven me?” Thor asks--voice light enough in tone that Loki can tell he knows the answer. “Or just cold?” The two aren’t mutally exclusive and Loki refuses to turn human just to answer stupid questions like that. They’d rather rest here, wrapped tightly around their warlock, and pretend to sleep so maybe Thor forgets the question. Loki can feel the soft drum of his heart through the pulse in his neck--always steady, always powerful, and so very warm. Loki feels Thor’s head turn to check the clock and judging by the groan that comes after it is later than nine-thirty and Loki is about to be dragged, forcibly, out of bed. “We need to get up,” Thor says, like it’s some kind of warning. Loki stubbornly pretends to be asleep. Thor sits up, the sheet falling low into his lap and Loki has to react now, must change tactics or they will be walked out of this warmth, wrapped around Thor like a scarf while he completes his morning routine.

Loki shifts into their human form, body staying lithe and no less beautiful if not bigger and with far too many limbs. Loki’s arms are wrapped around Thor’s neck and their head is tucked into the crook of his neck. If Thor notices the shift in weight, if Loki’s new heaviness of their human form makes him uncomfortable, he does not react to it. Thor’s strong right arm wraps around Loki and holds them close, cupping his hand on their hip.

“There’s no need to leave,” Loki argues pressing their human nose to the soft skin under Thor’s chin. “It’s too cold to leave the bed today.”

“Autumn already,” Thor sighs, “we’ll need to prepare for Mabon.”

“Not until later,” Loki counters, “much later. We have weeks. There’s nothing _now_. Let’s stay in bed today.” Loki licks Thor’s pinwheel flower. Thor shutters and tightens his grip on Loki’s hip and how can they not interpret that as a victory? Loki lets their teeth grow into fangs and runs the sharp points over Thor’s throat only to have Thor’s hand pull harshly on their hair to stop the sensual assault.

“If I listened to you we’d only sleep and kiss all day,” Thor sighs, voice low with command.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Loki huffs, “I’m the clever one, you know. I should be listened to.” Loki reaches up and runs their fingers along the large scar that stretches from Thor’s brow, across his right eye, and ending at his cheek bone. Loki likes this scar best of all the other things on Thor’s body. Loki likes to trace it with their tongue during sex and Thor teases them mercilessly for it--he claims it’s weird, no other lovers have liked it in such a way. This is only a point to Loki’s case that they should be the only lover Thor takes. Whether Thor agrees on the scar or not is irrelevant--he has made Loki his sole lover for years.

Thor catches Loki’s hand in his free one and kisses their wrist and palm gently. “You _are_ the clever one,” Thor relents, “but you get lazy in cold weather.”

Loki sneers at him if only because he’s right and it’s so annoying when Thor is right. Loki shifts into snake form again and slides over Thor’s broad shoulders, an unspoken agreement that they can both leave bed now.

*

Thor lives in a condo near the edge of the city. Being one of the richer warlocks in the area--being the demi-offspring of a God has all kinds of perks--he can afford the space and the pocket dimension each resident is entitled to once signing a lease. Thor uses his for the garden grown from the cuts of succulents that his mother gave him. While he walks through the rows, making small rain clouds to water the plants, he lets Loki loose to have their fill of rodents that steal the fruits and nibble on the plants. Loki never eats them to extinction, they understand the delicate ecosystem at play here and knows they must leave enough for the other snakes.

Thor loosens his collar--he always forgets how hot he keeps it here the desert climate perfect for the snakes, for Loki, but hard on Thor’s fine suits. He meant to wear work clothes, his jeans and thick boots that he can sweat into and kick dust with but he overslept and he won’t have time to change today between gathering venom and stepping out into the autumn chill of the city.

Thor slides on his thick gloves--the poisons can’t hurt him, not while he is under Loki’s protection but being bitten still _hurts_ and he’d rather not have the bite marks on him. He suspects Loki gets jealous anyway, even if they won’t admit it. He holds his hand over the underbrush where the black mamba sleeps. He can hear the smooth slither of her before he sees the soft silver of her scales--she wants to be left alone, they all do, but Thor only needs them for a moment, just the amount of time and discomfort it takes to bottle the venom for Wanda’s apothecary. He aggravates her, waves his hand in front of her and makes like he’s about to take her eggs. She strikes him, as she should if he really _were_ after her eggs, and with the fluid reflex of a warlock who has done this countless times he snatches her by the neck, the space just before her head, and holds her dripping fangs over the bottle. She excretes a lot today--enough that Thor has to bring out a spare bottle before she’s done and he lets her go.

Thor checks the list Wanda gave him again, crosses off the Black Mamba and sets to work gathering the water moccasin. This one gets his nice shoes and the bottoms of his pants muddy. When Loki sees him, after they’ve had their fill of small mice, Thor swears he can see the snickering glinting in his familiars eyes. This snicker is gone when Thor uses his magic to pull the mud from his clothes and create a ball from it that he promptly throws at Loki.

Loki hisses in displeasure, bears their fangs, only to slink off and out of the pocket dimension through the closet door. Thor lets them be while he finishes gathering the last of the venom from the Eastern Green Mamba and then cuts some aloe trimmings completing Wanda’s list of requests. Thor forgets to stop the storm until he takes one step into his bedroom out of the closet and turns on his heel. He snaps his fingers and the clouds dissipate leaving nothing but cracking red clay of the ground in its wake.

Loki, in human form, sits fully dressed on their tree branch, arms and legs crossed, in the three piece suits they love so dearly, glaring and their warlock.

“I don’t like mud,” Loki snarls, “I don’t like to be messy.”

“Now that’s not true,” Thor teases, “you like to be a little messy.”

“Not with mud,” Loki insists the anger making a hiss of the words, “mud is cold. If you’re not going to keep me warm then what _are_ you good for?”

“Oh darling,” Thor sighs, long suffering but grinning as he approaches Loki and places a soft kiss on the corner of their mouth, “I do so many nice things to you.” Thor thinks Loki is going to sulk a little longer, perhaps push Thor away, but instead they turn their face into the kiss, deepening it, and winding their arms about his neck and their legs about his waist. Thor braces himself on the branch, gets caught in the heat of the kiss for long enough that Loki has two of his shirt buttons undone before Thor breaks the kiss. “Last time,” Thor reminds them, “we broke the branch.”

“There are plenty of branches,” Loki counters, long fingers sliding inside of Thor’s shirt to grope him, “But there’s only one Me. Only one Now. You would be smart to make the best of both.”

And that is appropriately tempting that were it not for the clinking of the bottles of venom in Thor’s little crate reminding him they have a delivery, he might say to hell with the branch and make a point to snap it.

“There will be a Now, later,” Thor insists and pulls himself away from Loki. Loki rolls their eyes.

“I don’t feel you’re grasping this concept.”

“I’m not grasping _anything_ until my delivery is made. How quickly you forget it’s our vendors that keep you in fine clothes and trinkets.” Thor redoes his shirt buttons and gestures to the door. “If you’re coming out with me, which I hope you are,” Thor advises, “you’ll want to bundle up.”

Thor blinks and Loki is a snake again, sliding up his arm and making themself comfortable around his neck and shoulders. It’s a little awkward getting his coat and scarf on Loki nestles into the warmth of these too. Thor trades out his snaking gloves for his nice fall ones with the fingers missing so that when he strokes Loki the bare pads of his fingers can make warm contact with the familiar’s scales.

*

Loki only likes going out into the city when it’s warm. However, being out, wrapped tightly around their warlock, and a belly full of mice makes the annoyance of the chilliness much more tolerable than usual. Besides, Loki rather likes Wanda, finds they respect and perhaps admire her a little more than other witches. She’s one of those very rare magic users that does not have a familiar to harness her powers. This suits Loki best as they hate having to make small talk with other familiars while Thor mingles.

Wanda’s shop tastes like burnt matches and dried rose petals and she has a roaring fireplace in the back where she sells the books. It becomes clear to Loki that Thor plans to talk a long time to the witch so they slither out from under his coat and curl to climb up the sliding ladder on the bookshelf. Loki is very comfortable here, snake eyes lazily scanning to see if Wanda has acquired any new books since they were here last.

The bell at the front door rings and Loki thinks nothing of it until the taste of nutmeg and freshly struck glass hits their tongue. Loki is already shifting to human form, sitting primly on the ladder, and glaring at the little woman who stops by Thor and smiles sweetly at him. Loki has to strain a little to hear but it’s only boring cordial greetings as Jane, in her burgundy knitted cap and matching mittens, stands a little too close to Thor. Thor insists of course that there’s nothing going on between them, and Loki believes him if because Thor has never been a good liar and he’s never come home to Loki reeking of nutmeg and burning glass. It’s a small comfort but Loki would rather Jane made it clear she _understands_ that. Mortals, especially those of the non-magic variety, were always trying to wed or bed Thor, the allure of power that being tied to a demi-god brought in all kinds of riff raff.

There had been an incident when Loki and Jane first met where they tried to trick her into trading them her soul in exchange for magical abilities. It was an old trick but humans still fell for it. Fifty percent of the population were non-magical but still they would try to find some spell or object to change that. It was impossible--but Jane had seemed not to know that and Loki liked to play tricks. Wanda had ruined their fun before Loki had even gotten very far and Thor had been quite displeased with them. The worst was Jane had, unprompted, _forgiven_ Loki. Loki had not apologized, did not feel sorry in the least, and yet the next time they saw each other, at the cafe across from Wanda’s shoppe, she’d said, “No hard feelings. Not on my end. I understand you.” Loki found it condescending. That had to be the only explanation otherwise she was forgiving them out of pure kindness. Or perhaps she wanted to be their friend--but that seemed equally as laughable.

Jane has a little box in her arms this day and she holds the gift up to Thor smiling proudly over it. He beams at her but instead of taking the box points to the back of the store where Loki is perched on the ladder. As she approaches them with the box Loki considers changing back into their snake form but they’re curiosity is stronger.

She holds the box out to them but doesn’t say anything. Loki crosses their arms and looks at the gift bored. Her hands start to shake a little holding the box out so long and she finally lowers it with a sigh. “I brought you something,” She says.

“And?” Loki sighs and inspects their nails. They should paint their nails soon; maybe a nice soft gold for Autumn. Loki likes gold.

Jane takes a deep breath and huffs it out like Loki is being needlessly difficult. Loki _is_ being difficult but they don’t feel it’s needless. “Thor told me that you hate the cold,” She explains and then pulls the top off of the box. “I wanted to show there’s no hard feelings about you trying to eat my soul and everything.”

Loki snorts. “You don’t _eat_ souls. They’re a fluid, like blood or tears.” Loki tries to keep their eyes anywhere else in the store except the inside of the box. The only thing standing between Loki’s curiosity and their pride a thin sheet of colored tissue paper covering their gift.

“Then what were you going to do with mine?” Jane asks.

Loki shrugs. “Bathe in it, probably. Absorbing them through the skin gives me a lovely glow.”

Jane looks properly disgusted and Loki enjoys it enough to snatch the box from her hands and throw the tissue paper everywhere. Jane quickly picks the paper up and balls it together--perhaps trying not to make a mess of Wanda’s shoppe.

It’s a leg warmer. A hand made, terribly knitted, golden leg warmer that goes on longer than any human leg Loki has ever seen. They like the color though--Jane must have asked Thor what Loki would like.

“It’s a snake cozy,” Jane explains. “So you can keep warmer this season.” Loki drops the box unceremoniously and tosses the cozy at her. She catches it, dropping the paper in the process. Before she can feel too slight by them, Loki shifts into snake form again and hovers their face in front of her. She blinks and then, catching on, holds the end of the cozy open for them to slide into. Loki finds the material soft and snug, the material doesn’t itch them. Their head comes out the other end and they slither around Jane’s shoulders, their head needing to rest on the end of her elbows because her shoulders are _much_ smaller than Thor’s. The cozy covers them quite well, leaving enough room at the end so their tail doesn’t feel restricted. “Do you like it?” She asks them. Loki finds this to be a pointless question: they would not be wearing it if they didn’t like it. Still, she deserves, perhaps, some gratitude so they wind themself around her arm and rest their head in her palm, tongue licking out to tickle her fingers. She laughs, a nervous sort of sound, and Loki finds that delightful. Loki can feel her body stiffen with discomfort under them--she probably thinks they’re about to constrict around her and because of Loki’s nature they have considered it but decided not to.

Thor approaches, takes Jane gently by the hand and waits while Loki slithers off of her and onto their preferred perch of Thor’s shoulders. When they’re finally wrapped along, after Thor straightens the cozy over Loki’s body where it’s bunched up, Thor puts his coat back on. It is properly warm and dark now--the epitome of comfort. Thor thanks Jane too many times and then gives his goodbyes to her and Wanda. If it weren’t for the smell Loki would not know they were outside now, the cozy is functional. Loki makes a note to check themself in the mirror to see how the cozy looks on them but truly there is no outfit that Loki _can’t_ pull off. Loki imagines they must look incredible--a beauty in gold.

Thor reaches an ungloved finger out to Loki and pets them on the soft spot under their chin. “It suits you,” He says. Of course it does. Possibly with this Loki can stay in snake form longer when going out with Thor. Maybe deep into the winter even. With the cold a swiftly becoming an unpleasant memory Loki licks the air again and decides that they will enjoy the Autumn this year.

**Author's Note:**

> From what I googled (way too late in writing this) snake cozies are not very fun for snakes? There seems to be some discourse on whether or not they’re good/useful/enjoyable for the snake so disclaimer: don’t put your snake in a cozy.


End file.
